Wandering Minstrel
The Lunar Elves, like all elves, are steeped in a tradition of music that glorifies the Goddess’s song. Before the Dragon Call the summits of the Dragonback Peaks would echo with their enchanting voices and melody. Now the noble Lunar Elf poets and singers are little more than wandering minstrels, seeking to scrape out a meager living on the donations of those fortunate enough to hear their song. '' '''Stats' *'Type:' Elf Hero *'Crystal Affinity: 'Citrine, Emerald *'Abilities:' Feint *'Unique Actions: 'Jaunty Tune, Lullaby *'Potions: 'Powdered Power Chord *'Movement Points:' 7 *'Action Points:' 3 *'Strength:' 1B 1R (Melee: 1) *'Armor:' 2B (Defense) *'Willpower:' 3B *'Dexterity:' 2R (Defense) *'Hearts:' 5 *'Potion Quantity:' 1 Gameplay Stats: '''The Wandering Minstrel has below average offense of 1B1R STR and above average defense of 2R DEX. However, he has Feint, which has variable impact in Classic since the reroll's value is dependent on the monster's defense and actual defense roll. In Arcade, Feint can usually be treated as +1W STR, so he would then have a high offense of 1B1R1W STR. As with most Elf heroes, he has above average 7 movement. '''Abilities: Jaunty Tune is an augment Aura 2 support action that gives allies, including the Minstrel +1B offense if they are in the Aura's effect. It lasts until the Minstrel's next activation so it is often better to have him use Jaunty Tune before any other heroes activate, then have his party activate and benefit from its effect, and then have his allies activate again before he reactivates. If his party has Control abilities, they can move him so his Buff still benefits the heroes as the action may move forward. Jaunty Tune is best with ranged heroes that can stay within his aura and attack monsters potentially much further away. Likewise, he can use Jaunty Tune just to increase his offense to 2B1R STR (Classic 2.5 avg/7 max) or 2B1R1W STR (Arcade 3.5 avg/8 max)). In Arcade, this is often sufficient to Blast high defense targets. Jaunty Tune is differentiated from other 2 AP Blaster attacks b/c the although the buff is lower at 1B instead of 1R offense, it persists and may be used with multiple attacks. Due to this, as the Minstrel gains action points, the value of Jaunty Tune goes up as that's more attacks it can buff. On the flip side, as the Minstrel's offense increases, the value of each AP to simply perform a basic melee attack may also outpace the value of using Jaunty Tune. Lullaby is a support action that deals Wave 2 Slow. As a support action, it does not need to roll to hit, but due to the changes in SDE 2.0, status effects are removed at the end of the monster's activation, greatly reducing this action's effectiveness. Likewise, as a Wave 2 action, the Minstrel may not be able to move out of range of even Slow monsters unless he is retreating from them. This ability has less value in Arcade since minions do not move and are instead placed by their gang elites and all monsters have a ranged attack. Potion: Powdered Power Chord 'is a support potion that inflicts Wave 3 Knockdown. It can be very powerful in Arcade since it may be used by any hero and monsters are reliant on the MMC to decide their actions. If they do not have a Move action, Knockdown prevents them from acting for that Consul turn. '''Strategy: '''The Minstrel is a Blaster Debuff Support melee STR/DEX hero. He will typically use '''Jaunty Tune '''when multiple heroes can benefit and use basic melee Feint attacks. '''Lullaby '''has situational value, but '''Powdered Power Chord ' should be used when '''Knockdown '''will have the most benefit. '''Equipment/Buffs: '''The Minstrel uses STR to increase his offense and DEX to increase his defense. As he has no AOE or Blaster attacks, equipment and buffs from other heroes is the only way to increase his offense. If DEX is not available to increase his defense, 2B1R ARM is better than 2R DEX, but the Minstrel will often not be a focus for the Consul due to his limited impact on the field. If the heroes expect to rely on the Minstrel's potion to keep monsters under Knockdown, consider giving him extra potion capacity. '''Limitations: '''The Minstrel has no AOE attacks and the increased offense from '''Jaunty Tune is relatively weak to use for a Blaster attack as most Blaster attacks add 1R offense. The buff from Jaunty Tune may not have much impact on the overall game and in order to get the most use out of it, the Minstrel may need to move well ahead of the party and will not necessarily have sufficient defense to survive. Using Control actions to move the Minstrel with active Aura, although an advanced strategy, may be very expensive AP wise. Although he can inflict on demand Slow, it is considered a weaker status effect and will often have situational value compared to just using basic melee attacks. SDE 2.0 further reduces the value of Slow and status effects in general. Feint can be statistically powerful in Classic, but it can provide inconsistent value. In Arcade, it is not a dice, so has no chance to provide Hearts or Potions. Party: '''The Wandering Minstrel can fill the Blaster STR role in Arcade only as Feint is too inconsistent for Classic despite having more value against high defense monsters. Otherwise, he can fill a Support role in a party. His '''Jaunty Tune '''buff works best with ranged heroes that can attack monsters well outside the Aura's range. Either way he is reliant on his party to provide AOE and Healing. '''Available Through Wandering Minstrel ExpansionCategory:Heroes __NOEDITSECTION__